Huckleberries Best of the INorthwest — 1/25/06

Snow and mud all but camouflaged the pen of Amazingly Cool, this 3-year-old paint stud who is owned by Jean McIntosh and Tom Selberg of Hayden, Idaho. (Kathy Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)

1. David Horsey /Seattle PI doodles about special provisions of the new Medicare program here .

2. If you read HBO’s Best of the INorthwest Tuesday, you know that multi-murder suspect Joseph Edward Duncan’s blogging from jail here . But you might not know that a femme blogger was trying to snag him for other crimes here , nor did you see actual PDF posts of his writing here .

3. Four computers used as part of an alleged Spokane-based diploma mill operation also stored more than 10,000 images of child pornography here .

4. In a test of Washington’s new anti-spyware legislation, state Attorney General Rob McKenna and Microsoft announced a lawsuit today against a New York company that allegedly used misleading e-mail and other questionable online tactics to sell security software here .

5. Businessmen in Cody, Wyo., are welcoming the Hell’s Angels with open arms here .

6. IMHO-NW: Floyd J. McKay /Seattle Times ( Alito’ll back aggressive presidency ), Coeur d’Alene Press ( Boy’s apology salves wounds ), Dan Popkey /Idaho Statesman ( Ex-chief of staff should admit lobbying ) and John Levesque /Seattle PI ( Jojima’s skill will talk for him ), and Jim Moore /Seattle PI ( Odd folks, odds favor Steelers ).

Online Poll: 52% of the respondents to a Coeur d’Alene Press poll say that Idaho doesn’t need a constitutional ban on gay marriage.

*A three-judge panel rejected a Spokane man’s appeal of his July 2004 jury conviction for forcing his former roommate to chop off his own thumb as penance for what Culbreth said was the theft of a quilt and some lava lamps here .

*King County study: sprawl adds pounds, pollution here .

*Democrats were livid over a GOP-backed ad campaign blasting them as being soft on sex predators here .

*An abundance of snowy owls are attracting visitors to northwest Montana here .

Orbusmax Special: 2 Seattle residents have filed suit for “lost time” spent reading controversial bestseller “A Million Little Pieces” here .